The Negotiation Guru

You can win in a negotiation just by being better prepared. It can help you get what you want from the negotiation. It does work for everyone.

There’s no secret. You really just need to know how to prepare and which preparation framework to follow.

It’s not a difficult thing to do at all. This post will provide 4 key steps which you can use to help you prepare for your negotiation. You can adopt this preparation framework immediately to any of your negotiation.

Think of them as guidelines for your preparation process. Use them if you are serious about winning in a negotiation.

Step 1: Evaluate the conditions

This step helps you evaluate the relationship that you are having with the target. The relationship that you will be having depends on what are the stakes on the table. Assess the interests of both parties. Determine what exactly the other party wants. The relationship also depends on the degree to which how each party can help each other achieve their own goals. The more you can help each other, the stronger is the relationship.

Every form of negotiation will contain a certain degree of conflict and sensitivity. You have to learn to manage them. Examine the different type of situations and evaluate what are the stakes involved.

In a negotiation that the relationships matter a lot, you have to be careful with your strategy. Relationship and long-term cooperation are more important than the petty victories.

Always respect the other party, keep to your words, behave well and stick to the rules.

Step 2: Put yourself into target’s shoes

Negotiation is a matter of perception more than reality. We negotiate certain things because we have different perceived value of them. Our perspectives are based on our own experience. If everyone has their own experience, they share different perspectives.
To better prepare yourself, you need to step out of yourself and step into the other party’s skin.

Consider how he might have perceived something. Discover his interests and values. Imagine yourself in his position and take into account what might be important. Do not attempt to try to persuade him to see the things the way you do. Explore and research into what are the other possibilities.

Step 3: Decide the style and strategy to use

You can adopt different styles and strategies to different negotiation. The key here is to be flexible. Assess the kind of negotiation that you will be having.

In Dr. Richard Shell’s book, Bargaining for Advantage, he identified 5 negotiation styles:
i) Competitive
ii) Collaborative
iii) Compromising
iv) Avoiding
v) Accommodating

If you wish to find out more about the different negotiation styles, read his book.

Learn about the different negotiation styles and see if you are able to use different styles for different situations.

Step 4: Determine the medium of negotiation

Decide on how you will like to negotiate. Some negotiations will be better if you negotiate through an agent. An agent who is more familiar with the issue and has much more experience in such dealings. Choose your agent properly.

You can also decide if you can negotiate face-to-face, telephone, email, instant-messaging and so on. After you have gone through the pros and cons of the different mediums, consider the effect that using different mediums can affect your results.

There is no rule that says which medium you should use or whether there should be a third party. Settle for the one that best fits your situation and you are most comfortable with.

Conclusion

As illustrated, these are the 4 key steps which you can use if you wish to win in your negotiation. To ensure the best result in your negotiation, pick a few steps and combine them with your own style, strategy and skills.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 7:40 pm and is filed under Preparation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.